The Great Gatsby

Francis Cugat's final painting for the book jacket of the first edition of The Great Gatsby

Princeton University Library

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Tuesday, the literary scholar Kirk Curnutt joins us to explore F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. It’s been called the American masterwork, but when it was first published, Fitzgerald’s crowning achievement saw mixed reviews and mediocre sales. Today, the tale of Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy Buchanan and high society sits near top of the bestseller list. Curnutt calls The Great Gatsby “verbal jewelry” and says it might have more in common with romance novels than we’re comfortable admitting.

GUEST

Kirk Curnutt is a Professor of English at Troy University - Montgomery. He is vice president of the International F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, managing editor of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Review and a board member of the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Musuem in Montgomery, Alabama.

Monday on RadioWest we're presenting a radio play. Ballet West has a Dracula Festival going on, and we're getting into the act by broadcasting an adaptation of Bram Stoker's story. Really at its most basic, it's about a real estate transaction. This creepy count is trying to relocate from Transylvania to England, but something is not quite right about the guy. We'll give you the works: radio actors, sound effects and spooky music. It's the perfect thing for Halloween.